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Published:
2023-08-17
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2023-08-17
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13/13
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European Witness Protection

Chapter 13: Chapter Thirteen: 1991

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Lee walked into the kitchen, Mat by his side and his daughter Jennie in his arms. “Ami!” he called out, not seeing anyone in the kitchen. His riding boots, still on, but he scraped the mud from the souls he would have to wait till he got Jennie down on a chair before he could remove them. No one was in the kitchen today, which was odd. But a sound of the Tv was on in the Living Room, there sounded like cheering.

Mat got the afternoon snack that his mum and grannie left for him to eat after his riding lessons. Two-year-old Jennie was humming the “Rule Britania” song. Lee was blaming Jamie for her learning that tune in the last month. He placed her down pulling the boots off then placing them by the kitchen door then getting on his sneakers. Mat was doing the same thing, kitchen rule was no muddy show prints on the 100-year floor, the stone floor was a bitch to clean, and Dotty and Amanda hated cleaning the floor more than once a year. Once Lee was done with his sneakers, Jennie raised her arms, so he pulled her back into his arms.

“Lee we are in the family room!” His wife called out to him.

Looking at his son, “You think I should even go in there without back up Mat.”

“No Daddy, mum is mad.”

Lee winced, he and his bright ideas had resulted into a third child born just two months back. But hell, it had been a great night even if the hangover, had been one of the results, with a third baby born nine months after. Once the Amanda was back from the hospital, she with her mother, Dotty could be heard around him saying, “do the snip-snip.” Then come the day that Jennie had of course started doing that, which was why Jamie had taught Jennie the “Rule Britania” song, as she was started singing “do the snip-snip”, not just to her daddy, but all her brothers, with only Mat not getting why the others winced when Jennie started singing it.

Which caused Philip and his girlfriend Lottie to break apart on the porch where they had been kissing, Jennie popped up singing it. She didn’t know that she had caused Philip some embarrassment and Lottie some hard giggling when she stayed over for dinner that night, as Jennie kept singing when she wasn’t eating. Dotty and Amanda had at least looked sorry about starting it. That was when Jamie found a tape that had patriotic songs, so to stop Jennie’s love of that song, it worked like a charm. Expect now she was humming “Rule Britania”, thank God she didn’t know most of the words at this point.

Mat when running into the family room stopping as he saw something odd, he turned watching as his daddy walked into the room, for he didn’t get why his mum, granny, or his big brothers where crying. There was a special bullet on the BBC news about something. Mum was standing hold his baby brother Bill as the news caster repeated the same thing over and over again. Then his daddy come in, with Jennie hanging upside down, swinging, she was giggling, instead of humming now.

“Ami, what is going….” He stopped as the news person spoke up again. He got Jennie on her feet; he was afraid that he would drop his daughter.

“I repeat, the Soviet state has collapsed President Yeltsin is stating that the Soviet Union is now to be called the Russia Federation. By the first of January there will no longer any Soviet Union. Later we will be hearing from US President Goerge Bush and Prime Minister John Major on the end of the Cold War.”

Lee sat down with a thud on his chair, he couldn’t believe it, was over. Jennie come over to him, without thinking he picked up Jennie. Jamie came over popping on the arm of the chair, “Dad do you think that we could return to America?”

“Maybe, I have to call and find out. Do you guys want to return to stay.”

Philip looked at his grandmother and mother. “Well, I won’t mind a visit, but I like it here now.”

“I’m with Philip, Lee.” Amanda said, she liked it here, the quiet for her kids growing up on a farm with sheep and the horses. Even if she couldn’t be around the horses longer than a few minutes without her allergies getting the best of her. “All I want to know is that can we get our names back?”

More than once, Jennie had caught saying ‘man-da’ instead of ‘mum’. It had been easier with Mat, explaining to him last year that he had to never speak to anyone who he didn’t know. And only after his parents and grandmother was with him. But Jennie loved walking up to any new adult and chatting about things she heard from her family. There was still the wait to know if it was safe to come out of hiding and take back their names.

Handing Jennie to Jamie, he got up and headed to the one phone in the house. Calling a number that he hadn’t called in years, he dropped the phone hanging up taking a deep breathe, he placed both hands flat on the countertop. He felt unsettled, and afraid that placing the call would cause his family to be marked. Jesus could he risk it with three children under the age of 10. Thinking that first he should get Philip take the kids out of the house with Dotty and Jamie, heading down to London. Thinking a thousand little things that he hadn’t thought of in years.

“Lee?” Amanda’s soft voice made him look up and turn to her. She had left Bill with the others in the family room. Her hair was in a short French braid, she started wearing it because Bill loved pulling her hair when it was down and lose. She was speaking soft so her voice won’t carry into the other room. That he could see into. They were both long out of the game, but the old memories and rules where still fresh in their minds as they stood there looking at each other. He decided that if he did it they could have a few hours to make a break if they had to run, but where was the question.

“What if I call that number and its bad news?” Lee asked her.

Amanda looked at him then picking up the phone she handed it to him, “Call the number, Lee. If not for you or me but for the kids, Lee. For all of them.”

Hands shaking, he dialed the number again, the ringing seemed to go on forever, as he waited, he closed his eyes, remembering that train station and a pretty brown hair woman walking towards him and him grabbing hold of her arm and saying to her as he pulled her with him, “Walk with me.” Then a voice coming through to his ear, “It Scarecrow, we want to come in from the cold.”

He pulled the phone away so Amanda could hear the answer, “Copy Scarecrow, you and the family can come in from the cold. All is safe.”

“Thank you, Billy, by the way your Godson loved the panda bear.”

________________________________

Christmas Day was cold and over case, it was after the morning service, as the minster looked at the family that was gathering around the font, the two god parents one Black man and one blonde woman took a turn to hold the boy that was now crying as he was being held, he didn’t like the water that much. His father was ready as soon as he could, take and comfort the screaming baby who was still in his godmother’s arms, she looked like she would rather be handling a bomb at that moment.

“I hear by declare to all that this child should be known by the name chosen William Robert Harry Stetson.”

Lee and his wife stood side by side, “I love you, Lee Stetson.” His wife said.

It had been years since he heard his name said in that manner, as he was given his son he looked down at the face of his son. He was glad to have his name back, but the man that he had once been that day back before in October of 83’ was long gone, looking at his wife he made sure that his love for her was in his eyes, “And I love you Amanda Stetson.”

“Who would’ve thought Scarecrow a husband and a father.” His friend Francine Desmond said. He looked at her, the tone was natural but the smile betrayal the fact that she was enjoying it. In fact, she was enjoying too much. He was thinking he might hand her back her Godson just for that.

“I think you should try it, Francine, being a mother and wife is wonderful.” Amanda said to her.

“No thanks, if I find a guy who can stand being married to me, he will have to be less of a partyman like someone here. But if he is a prince that will be totally differently.”

“As long as the country isn’t small.” Lee, Amanda, and Billy said at the same time. It was an old joke that they all knew by heart.

The four people laughed over it. Francine had spent the years in the cold traveling around Cananda, she missed the parties in DC, but like Lee and Amanda, who had made the choice to stay in the UK, she had decided to stay in Canada. Billy and his wife, Jeannie had long since returned Stateside, he had been on the outside of the Intelligent world, but he had been slowly able to get news.

Billy had since 89’ he had been getting the Agency back, he had been able to reopen the old lines, then get back the old phone numbers for the day that the Cold War would be over. He just wished that Harry B Thornton had lived to see this day, the end of the Soviet Union, or Lee and Amanda taking back their rightful names. He watched as Jamie and Philip swung their baby sister Jennie between them. “Lee, Amanda, those two are going to be turning into two find men one day soon.”

“Thank you, sir.” Amanda said. She was beaming with pride watching her older two sons. Lottie, Philip’s girlfriend was part of the congregation that was asked to watch the Christening. By now the whole town knew about the American spies that had been hiding in their small area of England. The Hamilton’s was no more, as for the Stetsons, they were the talk of the area. Even if some still referred to then as Hamilton, but Lee and Amanda understood that it would take some time before the right name was going to be used.

“About that Billy, I was hoping that you could help me with something.” Lee was like Billy watching Philip and Jamie with Jennie. “Can you find Joe and get him to sign over his right as a father to me, so that I can adopt them and gave them my name.” Amanda looked at her husband. She replayed that talk they had once back when they first started being intimate. Laying naked in his arms Lee had kissed his way across her shoulder, when he asked her about one day sharing his name with her two boys.

“Well as of that, it shouldn’t be that hard, your Uncle Robert met up with him back in 87’ and Joe King after a night of…well let’s just say that he saw the error of his way and signed everything that Robert placed before him. All you have to do is sign the adoption papers and the King boys are yours.

Lee stopped, “Damn that’s what Uncle Robert said in 89’ when I last talked to him. We didn’t really talk too much as it wasn’t a clean line. I didn’t understand why he had to be that cryptic. It was almost like some cheesy Bond movie.” He chuckled over that memory.

“Hey guys we have to head back home, the party. Jennie is starved and I want some of that cake.” Jamie called out as he got Jennie in her car seat. In their mom’s car, that Philip was driving as there was a larger group that won’t fit into Lee’s trusted car.

“Yeah, head on, we are right behind you, boys.” Amanda called out placing her hands in her woolen coat pockets. Dotty headed to the car that the boys where in, she would help out getting the others get the house ready for the christening/Christmas party that they were hosting.
________________________________

As Amanda parked the car, she looked at Lee, “So are you going to tell the boys, or do you want me to talk to them?”

“No, I want gave them the news. Both of them have been calling me dad for years now, so why not make it official. Now that I can be Lee Stetson again official I to be the one to tell them.” He said getting Bill out of the car seat, the carrier was the same for all of the kids. Mat get out of his dad’s car, looking at parents, he watched them as they kissed, he was not at the age finding it funny, but he knew something that his older brothers didn’t know and he was busting to say something, but he knew the house rule, no slipping the secrets, he run up to the stairs waiting for his mum and dad.

“Ok then let’s go and be Lee and Amanda Stetson from now to eternity.” Amanda said as she slide her left hand around Lee’s right arm. She was busting with her own happiness over this, she never thought that her life would turn out like this that day in October in 1983, when a tall Waiter, walked up to her and turned her around saying to her “Walk with me,”.

Notes:

Last chapter, thank you for reading and if there are any typos, sorry, but the computer only caught some of them and I'm only human. Surprisingly it only took me one week to write the story in one week. So, again thanks for the read and the any kudos you all give me.